Kurisumasu no Tenshi: Angel of Christmas
by DarkRoseAngelScarlet
Summary: Okay, okay. /Know/ it's not Christmas, but I have an argument if anyone wants to kill me: I /started/ this on Christmas. San/Mir and Kag/Inu as always ^-^ **Completed**


**_Authoress: Michelle C._**

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**_Date: January 2, 2002_**

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**_Series: Inu-Yasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale_**

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**_Disclaimers: Mwahahahaha! Mine! ALL MINE! *Wakes up from dream* Aww, crud… Oh, all right. Inu-Yasha doesn't belong to me. He belongs to the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi, the creepy, dead, but incredibly cool priestess Kikyo, and the… uh…Kagome. Kagome and Kikyo belong to Inu-Yasha, Sango belongs to Miroku, and Miroku belongs to… *grins* ME! =D_**

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**_Pre-story Authoress' Notes: Happy birthday, Ericchan! This fic is dedicated to my very dear friend, Eric, whom has helped me through a lot of my problems. Thanks for always listening to me and always being there Eric. You'll always have a special place in my heart ^ ^ Happy birthday again, and now, on with the fic: the second of my Inuyasha specials._**

**Kurisumasu no Tenshi: Angel of Christmas**

            "My mom and grandpa already agreed that you guys are welcome to come over to our house for Christmas," Kagome said, beaming at her friends.

            "What's this 'Christmas' thing again?" asked the furry little kitsune.

            "Christmas is the time of the year in December that you spend time with your friends and family."

            "And you said there are presents?" asked Shippô.

            "Yup. There's presents and food and lots of fun. So," Kagome turned towards the rest of her friends, "you wanna come?"

            "I don't know if we **can** even if we wanted to, Kagome-chan," said Sango. "Isn't it true that only Inu-Yasha and yourself can pass through the well?"

            "Well, we've never tried before, have we?" asked Miroku, coming up behind Sango. "We might be able to, but we just don't know it."

            "Miroku's right, Sango. You guys might be able to pass through the well just as easily as we can, but since you've never tried, we just don't know it," said Kagome.

            "Hey! Don't I have a say in this stupid thing too?!" asked Inu-Yasha all of a sudden. "Whoever said that **I** wanted to go to this 'Chrimac' thing anyways?"

            "Inu-Yasha!" scolded Kagome, "Where's your holiday spirit? And besides, it's 'Christmas,' not 'Chrimac'."

            "Well, whatever it is, whoever said **I** was going? What about the jewel?!"

            "What **about** the jewel, Inu-Yasha?" asked Kagome.

            Inu-Yasha just stared at the girl with his eyes and mouth hanging open. "What do you **mean** 'What **about** the jewel?' You know very **well** 'what **about** the jewel'!"

            "What I **meant** was 'What's one night off going to hurt?'" Kagome explained calmly.

            "Well, for one thing, Naraku could—"

            "Do you honestly think Naraku's **that** fast? Plus, it doesn't even have to be the whole night. Just a few hours for dinner and maybe some presents for you guys or something," said Kagome.

            "Yes, come, Inu-Yasha. Let's go. Since Kagome was generous enough to invite us," Miroku said, "let us take her up on her offer."

            "Oh, Kagome, why don't we just forget about Inu-Yasha?" asked Shippô. "He's just gonna spoil the whole night!" he cried, pouting. "He **never** knows how to have fun. All he cares about is finding the stupid jewel."

            "Well, **one** of us has to keep looking for the jewel," Inu-Yasha said huffily.

            "Come on, Inu-Yasha," Kagome pleaded softly. "Please?" she gave him her best innocent-please-listen-to-me-or-I'm-gonna-pout-or-cry look.

            "No! Gods, woman, can't you understand that?!" Inu-Yasha said loudly before he gave into 'the look.' "Stupid wench," he muttered.

            Kagome looked like she's just been slapped. "But…"

            "No. And that's final," Inu-Yasha said before he hopped into his tree. "And who in their right minds would want to throw a 'Christmac party' anyways?" he called over his shoulder.

            Suddenly, Kagome got mad. "It's Christmas, you ungrateful baka! And since Christmas is a time to spend with the ones you love, like your friends and family, I just thought it would be kind of nice. Apparently I was wrong about me being your friend. I thought that I was at least that much to you," she yelled before turning away from him and running towards the well.

            "Kagome, where are you going?!" asked Shippô, running after her.

            "Home, where there aren't any dog-jerks around," she said.

            "Kagome…"

            "Oh, Shippô," Kagome paused to face the kitsune, "tell the others, Sango and Miroku, I mean, that their still welcome to my party. It's a little later tonight. Tell them that I won't be back to fetch them, but you guys should just come in a few hours, ok?"

            "What about Inu-Yasha?" asked the little kitsune quietly.

            "I don't know any Inu-Yasha," said Kagome, obviously trying to hold back tears. "And even if I did, which I **don't**, he would probably be too busy looking for his precious **Shikon Jewel** to worry about **stupid Christmas**," she said, emphasizing the words 'Shikon Jewel' and 'stupid Christmas' so that Inu-Yasha could hear. She smiled towards the kitsune again, "So you guys are going to come, right?"

            "You bet!" said Shippô, trying to keep Kagome on good terms with him.

            "Good," she said, hugging him. "Tell Sango and Miroku that I'll give them their gifts then, ok?"

            "And mine too?"

            Kagome laughed, "Yes, and yours too."

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            "Inu-Yasha," called Sango. "Inu-Yasha?"

            "What?" came the somewhat gruff response from the tree.

            "Um… We're going to Kagome's party now."

            "So? What do I care? She said I couldn't come anyways," said Inu-Yasha. "Not that I'd want to, anyways," he said quickly afterwards.

            Silence followed the last comment. "Why not, Inu-Yasha? I would think you would like to spend some time with Kagome," Sango said quietly.

            "Why the hells would I want that?" he asked, somewhat flustered now.

            "Oh… no reason," said Sango mischievously. She started to walk away, but before she go too far, she said over her shoulder, "And Kagome never said she didn't want you to be there. She's not mad at you either. You just upset her a little, that's all. Make sure you get her a gift, Inu-Yasha, something nice."

            'She didn't say she didn't want me there?' Inu-Yasha asked himself in his head. 'But I yelled at her! Why isn't she mad at me?' he asked himself, confused. Suddenly, he felt very guilty about yelling at her. He didn't even know what came over him, but out came the words.

            'Christmas is a time to spend with the ones you love…' Those words echoed in Inu-Yasha's head as he raced along the snowy fields.

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            "Okay. Here goes," said Shippô as he, Miroku, and Sango jumped into the well.

            Seconds later, they landed on the ground, inside the well. "Well, did it work?" asked Miroku, looking around a bit before Sango landed in his arms. "Oof," he cried as she plopped down in his arms, weighing him down as well. They collapsed in a heap on top of the small kitsune.

            "Gettoff of me!" yelled Shippô's muffled voice. "Help!! Help! I'm suffocating!"

            Sango groggily rolled off of Miroku and sat up to rub her head. "Miroku? Get off of poor Shippô already, will ya? Miroku?" Sango, after making sure that she backed away just enough so that his hand couldn't reach any part of her anatomy, sat back and poked the monk. "Miroku?"

            Suddenly, her back stiffened and in a matter of seconds, there was a huge red handprint on Miroku's face. "HENTAI!!!!"

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            "Hm? Kagome, did you hear something?" asked Grandpa.

            Kagome laughed. 'I guess they're here,' she thought. "Yeah, Grandpa. I think that voice you heard was Sango's. I'm willing to bet that Miroku's here too and I know Shippô was really excited to come tonight," said Kagome to her grandfather who was setting the table. 'I just hope that… Nah. It's too much to hope for…'

            "Sango! Miroku! Shippô!" said Kagome into the well house. "Guys?"

            "Here, Kagome," shouted the kitsune, who's voice seemed to be coming from inside the well.

            "Shippô? Are you still in the well?"

            "Yes, Kagome. Miroku's down here too. Can you help me get him up?" called up Shippô.

            "Um… Sure," said Kagome. "Where's Sango?"

            A voice in the shadows answered her, "I'm right here."

            "Sango?" said Kagome.

            Stepping out into the moonlight, Sango responded, "Yes, it's me."

            "Can you give me a hand with Miroku?"

            "No," replied the demon huntress, embarrassed.

            "Oh," said Kagome, holding back a giggle. "Alright. I understand, I guess," she said, her laugh escaping.

            "Not funny, Kagome!" said Sango, indignantly.

            "Oh, yes it is," said Kagome as she started climbing into the well.

            "Hey! Who's side are you on anyways?!"

            "Yours."

            Sango 'harrumphed', crossed her arms in annoyance, and sat down by the door of the well house, waiting for Kagome to reemerge with Miroku and Shippô. After a little while, they finally surfaced.

            Sango looked at Miroku and saw his hand twitch slightly. Sango growled lowly and menacingly. "Don't even think about it, hentai."

            Kagome looked behind her and caught a glimpse of Miroku's hand dropping to the ground again. Looking at Sango, she couldn't help but giggle. "Hey, Sango," she said in obvious amusement, "if I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."

            "Nani?!"

            "But then again, that's just what I think," Kagome said covertly.

            "Well, you think wrong," Sango said, cheeks burning a bright red.

            'If Inu-Yasha was here, I'm sure that he could pick up the blush, I mean, even I can,' Kagome caught herself thinking. 'What… Why do I care if that baka's not here? (A/N: Insert Akane-type defiance here) All he does is argue with me. He doesn't even care how I feel. He only loves his Kikyo and his jewel.' Kagome gasped as soon as she thought that. 'What is wrong with me? Kami-sama, I'm going crazy…'

            "Hellooo," Sango said, waving her hand in front of the other girl's face. "Kagome, are you okay?"

            "I'm fine, Sango," said Kagome. "Really," she added, after she received a look of doubt from her friend.

            "Thinking about Inu-Yasha?" Sango asked quietly as they started walking back to Kagome's house. "He's gonna be here, don't you worry."

            "Huh, nani? What do you mean, 'He's gonna be here, don't you worry'? First of all, I'm not worrying. Second, why would I care if he's here?" (A/N: Once again, insert Akane-type defiance here)

            "Kagome," her friend said quietly, "it's no good to hide your feelings."

            "You should talk," Kagome snorted.

            "What do you mean?" she asked, blushing again.

            "Miroku," Kagome said pointedly.

            "What **about** that hentai?" asked Sango stubbornly.

            Kagome cocked an eyebrow at her friend and ally from the feudal ages. "Come off it, you don't honestly expect me to believe that you don't like him, do you?"

            "I **don't**," cried Sango.

            "Don't **what**?" asked Miroku, popping out from behind them.

            Both of the girls screamed. "Don't do that!" they shouted at the poor monk in unison.

            "Do **what**?" asked the cowering monk.

            "Sneak up on us!" they both said together.

            "But I—"

            "Wow!" Shippô said as they entered Kagome's house. "It's so beautiful!"

            Kagome stopped laughing at Sango and Miroku and Sango stopped glaring at Miroku long enough to catch a glimpse at the Christmas tree. "Wow…" she breathed.

            "Beautiful, isn't it?" Kagome asked proudly.

            "Hello," Kagome's mom said. "You must be Sango," she said reaching out to hug the girl.

            "Yes, Higurashi-sama," (A/N: I have 0 clue on how Sango would address Kagome's mother) said Sango, bowing her head in a formal manner before the older lady reached her.

            "Oh, come now. Let's not be so formal. You may call me Kagana, (A/N: I **really and truly** don't know Ms. Higurashi's name and I really suck at coming up with names. Gomen) alright, Sango?" She smiled warmly and gathered the demon huntress into a hug. "And you must be Miroku," she said, turning to the monk.

            "Yes, I am the humble monk, Miroku, whom your beautiful daughter has so graciously invited into your beautiful home for this 'Christmas dinner'," Miroku replied, holding one hand as if in prayer and bowed.

            "Wow, Kagome! The tree looks like it's out in daylight. It's so pretty and sparkly and colorful!" said the wide-eyed kitsune in awe. "Ooh…" he said, reaching out for an especially shiny ornament.

            "Kagana chuckled. "And you, you cute little thing, you must be Shippô, am I correct?" she asked, scooping up the fluffy little fox demon.

            "Yes ma'am," he said, suddenly shy. "You smell a lot like Kagome-chan…" he said quietly.

            Kagome smiled. "I know that you're quite fond of my Kagome," she said in his ear, "so I know that was a compliment."

            "I'm not as fond of her as Inu-Yasha is, though," said Shippô, breaking out into a grin.

            "Quite true," responded the girl in discussion's mother with a twinkle in her eye. "Quite true."

            "Alright, dinner's ready," called Grandpa from the kitchen.

            "Cool! There's an actual demon my size!" shouted Sota as he ran downstairs.

            "You two can play **after** dinner," said Kagana said in a motherly tone.

            "Alright," the two boys chorused in unison.

            "I wanna show you my fat, lazy cat, Buyo, later, okay? He's really funny and cool," asked Sota, "not like my sister." Kagome scowled in his general direction before turning to guide Sango and Miroku into the dinning room.

            "Hey, is it a fire cat demon, like Kirara there?" asked Shippô, glancing at the ball of fur, currently occupying Sango's right shoulder. The ball of fluff lifted her head and looked around upon hearing her name before Sango lifted her off her shoulders and onto the ground.

            "Cool, you mean the cat's a demon too? Awesome! But no," Sota continued, "Buyo's only a fat, lazy cat."

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_Kirara's Point of View_

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            I walked out into the soft, white snow. 'Why did Sango move me? I was so warm and comfortable,' I thought. 'Humans,' I thought, shaking my head slightly. 'I'll never understand them.'

            'Hm? Wonder what that was,' I said as I heard a small thump. 'Is that… Huh. I guess doggy finally made it,' I thought. I took my time padding towards the small building we came out of when we first came into this new world. 'It's actually not too different than 'our time',' I thought. 'Where is—Oh. Target spotted. Now moving in for the kill (A/N: I know, I know. Kirara's a cat and there's no way that she could have watched too much TV or nothing, but I just thought it was kinda-sorta cute. Plus, I kinda-sorta got the 'patrolling kitty' idea from, I think the movie was called "Homeward Bound." Very old movie, but I liked it when I was a kid) Whoop, kitty gets snow in paw.' I hop around a little, trying desperately to get the snow unstuck between two of my nails. 'Eww… Snow equals water. I'm not a real cat, but I'm a cat demon, and a **fire** cat demon at that. I hate water… and I never liked snow much…'

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_Normal, Third Person Point of View_

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            Inu-Yasha quietly thumped quietly to the bottom of the well. 'Kami-sama, it's cold,' he thought. 'Wonder if it's too cold for Kagome…' he caught himself thinking. 'Kami-sama, what in the seven hells is wrong with me?!'

            'You know what's wrong, and stop trying to deny it already,' his subconscious mind argued.

            'I don't love her!'

            'Yes you do.'

            'No I don't!'

            'Yes, you do,' it 'said' slowly, as if talking to a toddler, which it might as well have been because a toddler is just as stubborn. 'You **know** you love her. Stop feeling so guilty about Kikyo's death and just get over her. She's dead, it's not your fault, it never **was** your fault, and if you keep pushing Kagome away, one of these times, she won't come back to you.'

            'I—You—Just—,' Inu-Yasha thought in frustration. "ARGH!" he yelled out loud, startling the little fire cat demon who was padding in through the well house's door.

            Inu-Yasha glared at the small cat demon's glowing eyes. Her head tilted in an almost human way of saying, "What's wrong with you?" Inu-Yasha scowled slightly before he walked over and picked her up. Kirara started purring and settled on the top of his head. "Neko no baka," he growled irritably, but smiled all the same.

            Slowly, he walked up to the Higurashi residence.

Shippô looked up from the delicious food for a second. 'Hm?' he thought, glancing towards the door. 'Ah, so dogface finally shows up. 'Bout time.'

            "Kagome?" a soft voice said from outside the door.

            "I-Inu-Yasha?" she squeaked softly. "Mom, Grandpa, guys, could you excuse me for a second?"

            "Of course, Kagome," said her mother, apparently, and to Kagome's relief, oblivious to the sound. Kagana looked away from the two little boys who were eating only what she put on their plate because of their eagerness to play to look at Kagome worriedly. "Are you ok dear?" she asked.

            "I'm fine. I just… want some fresh air. That's all," Kagome said quickly as she pushed herself away from the table. "I'll just be outside."

            Sango started to get up but Shippô whispered to her, "It's Inu-Yasha. I think we should leave them be."

            "Oh," said Sango. "I didn't realize Inu-Yasha was here already. I thought she was sick or something." Miroku tried to get up as well, but the demon huntress put her hand over his and shook her head giving him a leave-her-alone-for-a-while look.

            "Inu-Yasha?" he asked quietly.

            Sango nodded and continued to eat and Miroku and Shippô soon followed her example of feigning ignorance of Inu-Yasha's sudden appearance at the Higurashi's front door.

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            Kagome slipped out the door and slid it shut, leaning against it slightly. 'Is he really—'

            "Hello, Kagome," Inu-Yasha said quietly, stepping out from behind a pillar.

            "Inu-Yasha," the girl said, acknowledging his presence, but also pretending that she didn't really want him there. She felt tears spring to her eyes and looked at the floor as if it was the most important thing in the world. Angrily, she wiped them away.

            "Kagome…" he said softly causing her to look into his topaz colored eyes. Noticing the tears in her eyes, he reached up slowly and wiped them away. "Kagome…" he said again.

            Kagome suddenly sprung herself into Inu-Yasha's arms and started crying. "Oh, Inu-Yasha," she cried into his upper torso, "I'm so sorry I ran off like that. I was just a bit sore that you didn't want to spend Christmas with me." Suddenly, as if just realizing what she said, she blushed and tried to turn away but Inu-Yasha held onto her.

            "Kagome," he began again and paused, causing her to think that he wasn't going to continue like the other two times before. "Kagome, look at me," he said and she did, seeing something in his eyes that she has never seen before. She saw that his eyes shone with tears and behind those tears, pain. "Kagome, I'm sorry too. I… I shouldn't have yelled at you for wanting to spend time with your family. I guess I… I guess I was kind of… jealous,"—Kagome's eyes widened when Inu-Yasha said that he was jealous of her family, but kept quiet—"because I never really knew my family. Except for my arrogant, self-centered bastard of a big brother, Sesshô-Maru, that is," he said the last part with spite, as if it took everything in him to keep himself from punching a hole in something just for saying his brother's name.

            "Oh, Inu-Yasha," Kagome said hugging his now wet torso, "I'm so sorry…"

            "Hey. Hey, don't worry about it, okay? Kagome, look at me. Don't worry about it, okay?" Inu-Yasha asked as he saw her about to cry again. Slightly panicked, he quickly asked her, "What's wrong, Kagome? Why are you crying?"

            "I'm,"—*sniffle*—"I'm sorry. I mean," she laughed suddenly, "I'm sorry that's I'm crying. I'm just so glad you're here…"

            Kagome must have caught the startled look on the hanyou's face because then she giggled. "So why are you here anyways?" she asked.

            "Oh," said Inu-Yasha, as if suddenly remembering something. "Here," he said, shoving a small box into her hands and blushing. "This is for you."

            Kagome gasped and looked at him. "For me?" she squeaked out. When Inu-Yasha nodded, she slowly opened the box and once again gasped. Slowly, she brought out one of the five shards of some sort of black stone. She held it up in the chilly winter air and let the sun glisten through. When the sunlight poked through the small shard, the door opposite of the shone a majestic purple color. Kagome put the small slice of black-purple stone back and pulled out another sliver about the same size as the previous one and this time, it was a silvery color. Kagome did the same thing and this time, the door looked covered in a brilliant silver color, almost like the snow in the movies. Once more, Kagome slid this piece back into the box and pulled out the final item. It was a silver necklace studded with little, emerald-green stones that shimmered in the sunlight. The stones were shaped into little curls, outlined by the silver.

            Carefully, Kagome put the necklace back into the box and stared at Inu-Yasha. He was staring at the box and when she turned her eyes upon him, he looked up at her. His eyes shone of something that she couldn't quite place, something of a mix between remembrance, sorrow, and… love? Kagome just couldn't quite find the right words and only hugged him. "They're beautiful," she said softly.

            "They were my mother's," he said quietly. "The 10 small black and white stones were once part of a golden bracelet that mother use to wear. They were her favorite pieces of jewelry. They were a present from my father." Inu-Yasha looked away from Kagome and the small gems and looked, instead, at the setting sun. It burned a crimson red tinted with violets and navy blues. Kagome saw a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was remembering the distant past.

Burning with curiosity, she finally asked, "Why are you giving them to me then?"

"Because," he said, now staring directly into her eyes, making her almost shiver, but not from the cold, "my father gave my mother these gems because he loved her."

"But—"

"And I love you, Kagome," he said quietly.

Kagome felt her breath catch in her throat. 'H-he loves me? H-h-how is that possible? Doesn't he love Kikyo? Why would he love me?'

"I felt that I had to give you these to tell you how I feel. I…" he hesitated. "I understand if you don't feel the same way," he said, looking down.

"Inu-Yasha? Inu-Yasha, look at me," Kagome commanded gently.

Inu-Yasha looked up into her wide blue-green eyes. "What?" he asked, his voice now a bit gruff.

"Inu-Yasha, I… I…" she stammered. She stared a moment longer into the amber pools of his eyes and leaned forward to kiss him. "Inu-Yasha, I love you…"

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            "Inu-Yasha. Hello," said Miroku, looking up from the food.

            "Miroku. Sango. Brat," Inu-Yasha said, acknowledging all of them with a nod of his head. "Higurashi-sama. Higurashi-sama. Sota."

            "Hi, Inu-Yasha!" said Kagome's energetic little brother.

            "Brat, my foot," grumbled the kitsune cub as he pouted.

            "Hello, Inu-Yasha," said Sango, Kagana, and Grandpa said in unison.

            Inu-Yasha stood off on the side, looking uncomfortable. "Come and eat with us, Inu-Yasha," offered Kagome's mom. "The food is getting cold." She smiled a sweet smile at him and then one at her daughter.

            Kagome sat back down next to Sango and pulled a chair up on her other side. "Come on, Inu-Yasha," she said, gesturing to the chair and careful not to use the word 'sit'.

            Inu-Yasha sat down on the chair, still looking uncomfortable. "Arigatou, Higurashi-sama, for allowing me to eat here tonight," he said awkwardly.

            She smile warmly at him, "Don't be so formal, Inu-Yasha. You may call me Kagana, just as Sango, Miroku, and Shippô have been calling me. And don't be so shy."

            Inu-Yasha grumbled a response that no one could understand but could tell was more or less of a thank you type of response.

            Still uncomfortably, Inu-Yasha reached for some food and started eating it quietly. Sango, Miroku, and Shippô stared at him incredulously. "What?" he asked, looking up after swallowing.

            'Why is he behaving so… gentleman-like?' the three thought at the same time, still staring.

            Sango finally voiced their thoughts by asking, "Inu-Yasha? You usually aren't so… neat when you're eating. Are you okay?"

            "Of course I'm okay," he answered gruffly. 'What kind of stupid question was that?' he asked himself. "And what do you mean 'You usually aren't so neat when eating'?"

            "Well…" Miroku said, trying hard not to roll his eyes remembering the times that Inu-Yasha couldn't even sit still while eating, let alone have near-perfect table manners.

            "Well what?"

            "You usually don't have such… nice table manners, is all," replied Sango, as if trying to take Inu-Yasha's focused irritation away from Miroku.

            Inu-Yasha snorted and continued to eat politely for the rest of the dinner.

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            "Ooh! Kagome, it's so pretty!" said the happy little kitsune holding up a shinny new collection of tops and other children toys. "Thanks!"

            "You're welcome, Shippô," Kagome said, hugging the little kitsune cub.

            "Sango, this is for you," said Kagome, holding up a medium sized packaged.

            "Thank you Kagome-chan," she said. She peeled the wrapping off of the box as Shippô did and lifted the foreign substance of the paper away. Inside, she found a large assortment of hair accessories, some extraordinarily fancy, others a bit less noticeable, and still others unadorned and also a charm bracelet.

            "I know how hard it can be to battle with hair in your face, so I thought that you might like these," Kagome said. "It's not much, but it's practical. And," Kagome added, leaning in close to the other girl, "if you want to look nice for a certain monk, you can wear one of the nicer ones." Kagome smiled at her blushing friend.

            "Thank you again, Kagome-chan," she said, hugging her friend, not denying anything this time.

            "Miroku, this is for you," Kagome said, handing him a small package.

            "Many thanks, lady Kagome," said Miroku he pulled the wrapping off. Inside sat a small crystal amulet. On the chain was a small inscription that he couldn't quite decipher.

            "It says 'wind'," said Kagome, reading the confused expression on his face. Kagome turned to Inu-Yasha, gave him a small box, and said, "And this is for you."

            He mumbled a thanks and tore the paper off the box. Inside, contained an unfamiliar substance. It was glossy and looked like a painting. It contained a picture of Kagome, herself. Inu-Yasha held back a gasp of surprise. The 'painting' was so lifelike that Inu-Yasha almost expected it to start speaking to him. Inu-Yasha carefully tucked the small 'painting' of Kagome behind the others and stared at the second of the 5. It was a picture of Inu-Yasha chasing Shippô. The third was a picture of Sango yelling at Miroku, the fourth of Inu-Yasha in the ground after being 'sit'-ed, and the fifth was a picture of them all together. Inu-Yasha looked at these pictures silently and after he finished gazing at them, he looked up at Kagome, who was staring at him with a look that clearly asked do-you-like-them?

            Inu-Yasha nodded with a smile and Kagome smiled happily in return. "They're called photographs. Remember that little black box that I was holding and was clicking away with? This is what can come out of it."

"Kagome, this is for you," said Sango and Miroku from behind her.

            "I helped pick it out," said Shippô. "Don't forget, it's from me too."

            "Yes, this is from Sango, Shippô, and myself," said Miroku.

            "Thank you," said Kagome, accepting the gift. Unwrapping the large box, she was delighted to find that there was an intricate bow and arrow set that was designed with carvings of sakura blossoms painted a faint pink color. There was also a beautiful length of silk that was dark blue and had glimmering bits of silver along it, long and large enough to be made into a dress.

            "Sango picked out the silk. She thought that you might like it. Shippô and I picked out the bow and the quiver of arrows," said Miroku.

            "Yes, Kagome. Do you like them?" asked the little kitsune eagerly.

            "Yes," she replied. "I love them. They're totally beautiful. Thank you, Sango, Miroku, Shippô." She hugged each of them, almost surprised to not find Miroku's hands where they weren't suppose to be when she hugged him.

            "Sango, this is for you," said Miroku, holding out a little box to her.

            Sango cautiously took the box and opened it. She gasped in surprise. "Oh my… Miroku, thank you!" she cried, nearly lunging at his neck for a hug. Caught by surprise, Miroku fell backwards with Sango on top of him.

            Miroku feigned that he was in pain. "Oh, Miroku, I'm so sorry," Sango said, getting off of him.

            *Twitch.*

            Behind her, Sango heard a soft plop. "Eh?" she said as she turned around. 'So, the hentai held his hand,' she thought to herself, amused.

            "Hey, Sango, what did that baka give you for you to jump on him like that?" asked Inu-Yasha curiously.

            "Oh!" Sango said blushing. She held out that small box that contained a ring that was as red as a rose and was also in the shape of one outlined with silver. Within that box, there was also a necklace that matched the ring, with the intricate rose right in the middle of the necklace.

            "Wow, Sango!" said Kagome, admiring the beautiful pieces of jewelry. "They're beautiful!"

            "They was my mother's," said Miroku suddenly from behind Sango, causing her to gasp, not because of his closeness, but because of his statement.

            "Your mother's? But… why? Why are you giving it to me?"

            "It is so because I want you to have it," he said simply.

            "But **why**? That doesn't answer my question, houshi-sama, and you know it."

            Miroku grinned at her, "My own personal reasons." Sango just pouted slightly but looked at the ring and necklace again, smiled, and let the subject drop.

            Kagome shot a glance at Miroku, catching his eye. "Just tell her," she mouthed to him.

            After a moment, Miroku sighed and said, "Sango, would you walk with me for a moment?"

            "Um… sure," she said to him.

            Miroku walked out of the Higurashi house and away from the eyes of Kagome's family and ears of Inu-Yasha and Shippô. "Sango… about your question…" he said quietly.

            "Yes, why did you give me the ring and necklace?"

            Miroku looked into her dark brown eyes with such intensity that she blushed and looked down at her robes. "Sango, look at me," he commanded gently. Sango looked into his deep violet eyes and got the shivers and blushed more, but withheld the eye contact this time. "Sango," he began again gently. "It might not seem like it at times…" he said and paused and walked a step closer to Sango, "but… I really care about you."

            When Sango didn't say anything and looked away again, Miroku stepped closer to her and tenderly seized her hand. Looking down, he was delighted that she liked the gift enough to already wear it. Sango still continued to look away from him, though they were only mere inches apart. "Sango…" Miroku said softly. "I…" he said but faltered when she looked back at him, into his eyes. He saw that there was confusion in her deep brown eyes and he felt as if he was going to drown in them. 'She's still confused about a lot of things,' Miroku thought, suddenly realizing that there was pain in her eyes as well. 'Kohaku. Her only family member left alive… Or is he alive? He seems to be living and breathing, but he seems to have no will of his own. Naraku is controlling him, keeping him alive really, with a mere jewel shard. I don't blame her at all for her confusion. And this Christmas thing that lady Kagome invited us to probably only made her realize that even more. And it also makes me realize that all I have left in the world is her…'

            "Houshi-sama," Sango started to say, her voice wavering, as if she had read Miroku's thoughts and that she suddenly realize how lonely she was because of that bastard, Naraku. 'Oh, Kami-sama, Miroku, you're all I have left now. I… I know that Kohaku will never return to us. I have already accepted that… Oh, I'm so confused… I wish so much that you could help me through this,' she thought. "Houshi-sama, w—" she started saying but Miroku hushed her with a light kiss.

_~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~_

            "Oh, there you guys are," said Kagome. "I was wondering where you went. I was about to send Inu-Yasha out to sniff you guys out."

            "Good thing you didn't," said Miroku, squeezing Sango's hand affectionately.

"Besides," Sango added, "we were only talking." She smiled up to Miroku. 'I'm not alone. I know that now. I have Miroku,' she thought, squeezing his hand back.

            "Hey, did anyone else get anyone presents?" asked Kagome.

            "Oh, yes," said Sango suddenly. "Houshi-sama this—"

            "Miroku," he said, cutting her off.

            "Of course," she said smiling again making Miroku's stomach flutter with a foreign feeling. "Miroku," she paused, relishing the word, "this is for you." She held out something wrapped carefully in bamboo leaves.

            Miroku slowly unwrapped the handmade package and finally pulled out a worn set of prayer beads. "They were my father's and my grandfather's. I believe that they also belonged to my great grandfather," she said, not daring to look at the monk for a reason unknown even to herself.

            "I'll cherish them forever then," he vowed. "Thank you, Sango," he said, planting a kiss on her forehead, much to the satisfaction of Kagome.

            'Finally,' she thought. 'It's about time that those two got together. And us too,' thought the young miko. She looked up and squeezed the hanyou's hand lightly, receiving a small squeeze back from him. She smiled and put her head lightly on his shoulder, as did Sango at the same time on Miroku. The two girls caught each other's eyes and they both smiled knowingly to the other, cuddled in their love's arms, as if saying, "Finally."

_~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~^*^~_

            "Wow, Kagome-chan," said Sango admiringly, "and you say **Inu-Yasha** gave those to you?"

            "Yep.They were his mom's. And hey," Kagome retorted, "that ring and necklace is nothing to **not** brag about."

            "Yeah, I suppose," Sango said dreamily.

            Kagome suddenly laughed. "Sango, we sound like little schoolgirls!" she exclaimed.

            Sango smiled slightly, "You mean all girls in your era always act this excited when they're in school?"

            "Well," Kagome said, relenting a bit to the truth, "I guess I'm being a tad melodramatic, ne?"

            "Then again, we **do** have a right to be happy, don't you think?" asked her friend smiling again.

            'She's thinking about Miroku again,' thought Kagome. "Yeah, yeah we sure do. We each have a great guy and a great life. Aside from having youkai trying to kill us all the time, I'd say we have a perfect life," said Kagome, laughingly.

            "I agree, Kagome-chan," Sango said, "I really agree."

**_            So, here's my second 'Inu-Yasha Specials' fic. What did you think? I also know that I missed Thanksgiving, but I was totally swamped by schoolwork. Gomen, gomen ^-^''' And I really know that this fic is like super late, but I couldn't post it on Christmas so I thought "Hey, what the heck. Might as well save it for something special, like a birthday present" (Hey, Ericchan, how is it that I remember your birthday is January 2nd and you think that mine's is April 5th? *Pout*) Anyways, please review as always! Until the next fic ^ ^_**

**_            Ciao~_**


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